China, U.S. conclude social, people-to-people talks with substantial results

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. Sept. 28, 2017. The first China-U.S. Social and People-to-People Dialogue was held on Thursday in Washington. The event was co-chaired by Liu Yandong and Rex Tillerson. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Senior Chinese and U.S. officials wrapped up the First China-U.S. Social, People-to-People Dialogue here Thursday with substantial outcomes.

The one-day dialogue, co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, is one of the four high-level talks agreed upon during the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, in April.

Liu said under the new circumstances, strengthening people-to-people exchanges is vital to the sound and stable development of bilateral relations.

The two sides should implement the consensus reached by the leaders, raising people-to-people exchanges and cooperation to a new level so as to lay a firm social foundation for the development of bilateral relations, she added.

The first round of the China-U.S. Social and People-to-People Dialogue concluded with a joint statement and more than 130 outcomes, including an action plan.

Both countries pledged to boost cultural exchanges to enhance people-to-people ties.

The joint statement said both are committed to supporting the establishment of long-term communication and cooperation between their cultural organizations.

China and the United States will help promote bilateral cooperation between public cultural industries, as well as exchange visits among high-level cultural groups.

The statement said exchanges and cooperation at local levels are one of the most active and robust areas in China-U.S. relations, indicating that the commonalities between the two far outweigh their differences.

Local-level exchanges cover a wide range of areas, including education, science and technology, environmental protection, as well as culture and healthcare.

Both countries also agreed to team up to beef up health care and safety in their respective countries and the world at large.

Both will take into account the proposals of the Belt and Road Initiative to deepen cooperation for safety, progress and innovation in health matters and commit themselves to building a community of shared destiny where health matters are concerned.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, comprises the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which are reviving and expanding ancient silk trade routes for greater connectivity and trade between Asia, Europe and Africa.

China and the U.S. have agreed to launch cooperative programs to prevent and control such major communicable diseases as AIDS, promote exchanges and dialogue between health personnel at various levels, and boost health research on such non-infectious diseases as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases as well as cancer.

They also agreed to help establish a public health system in African countries in the post-Ebola era, deepening their cooperation to train health personnel in Africa and strengthening the continent's ability to prevent and control diseases. The two countries will jointly carry out public health programs, including vaccinations against hepatitis B for newborns in Sierra Leone.

China and the United States will also promote two-way overseas study and enhance bilateral exchanges among educational institutions and scholars.

They will adopt a "double 100,000" two-way overseas study plan, which will allow China to send 100,000 government-sponsored people to study in the United States and permit 100,000 U.S. students to study in China in the next four years.

Besides, China will provide 10,000 scholarships in the coming four years to encourage excellent U.S. students to study in China on a short-term basis.

The United States will continue to implement the Fulbright scholarship program, a U.S. flagship academic exchange program.